


It's a Family Thing

by NyanTigey



Series: Assassins AU [1]
Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Assassins AU, Blood, F/F, Gore, Siblings AU, There are THREE OF THEM!?, help I've fallen into the AU sinkhole and can't get out, katanas, mentioned relationships, seriously tho watch out for that katana, the exposition train has left the station
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-22
Updated: 2017-04-22
Packaged: 2018-10-22 16:46:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10701027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NyanTigey/pseuds/NyanTigey
Summary: Looking at the three Caulfield siblings, they might not look too strange. Sure they all look shockingly alike and some of them have odd eye colors, and they have strange tally marks tattooed all over their bodies, but they're just normal people. Right?AKA The one where everyone's a badass.





	It's a Family Thing

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by skirtehfox's assassin/sibling AU. They can be found here: http://skiretehfox.tumblr.com/ and you should check out their stuff. They're a good.
> 
> This is my take on that. This fic is basically groundwork for any other fics on the AU I'd like to do, which may be quite a bit, it also may be the only fic I ever write. Who knows ;D
> 
> Side note: This is my first fanfiction, straight up. The first fanfiction I've ever written is about an AU of an AU of a game that game out 20,000 years ago. I have no regrets.

By most accounts, the Caulfields were not a normal family.

In essence, at the core, they were like most other family units. They were close knit, with a loving, affectionate mother and father, Vanessa and Ryan Caulfield. Their eldest daughter, Maximus, took on the usual older sibling duties, being the calm, rational voice of reason. The middle sister, Maxine, was the social one, able to make quick friends with whoever she grinned brightly at, finding common ground with almost anyone. The youngest of the bunch, Max, was shy and reserved, but still able to be a sarcastic little gremlin when she wanted to be. They were practically inseparable when they were kids, had disagreements and spats, and leaned on each other for emotional support. Now they were older, carrying on the family business together.

Except that family business was murder, which brings us to the ‘not a normal family’ point.

Maximus, codenamed Primus, was the prodigy, the marksman. Her calm demeanor and intelligent wit translated well to guns, mind working quickly to analyze trajectories, wind speed, bullet drop, within a matter of seconds as soon as she had her sights on someone. The further away from her target, the easier it was for her to kill them. She prefered sniper rifles to this extent, but shove anything with a trigger in her hands, give her a minute to familiarize herself, and she could kill a room full of trained men singlehandedly. She was fast, efficient, a perfectionist in her method. She never missed, and had the highest body count out of the siblings, as accentuated by the tattoos spiraling down the upper part of her left arm. 

Maxine, codenamed Secundus, was the middle child, the charismatic one. She was far more playful in her methods, clashing sometimes with Maximus who preferred to get in, get the job done, and get out. Maxine, on the other hand, loved toying with her targets. She took longer than necessary, playing with her target before slashing their throats. To this end she enjoyed blades, having a plethora of daggers, throwing knives, and short swords in her collection, and usually on her body whenever she went out on contract. Jobs were still jobs, and she completed all of hers perfectly, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t have fun along the way. Her playful nature translated well to breaking prisoners down for information, her knowledge of the human body and just how much she could push a person working wonders during interrogations.

Max, codenamed Tertius, completed the trio, being the youngest, least experienced one. While both of her sisters preferred to fight with some kind of weapon, she had been trained to utilize her body as her weapon. Maxine preferred to draw attention to herself and Maximus was almost never in harm’s way, but Max was a shadow, dancing from cover to cover, leaving snapped necks in her wake. If someone ever did spot her, she knew how to disarm a man before he could blink, but she was rarely ever spotted. Her shy attitude and unassuming form was a boon in this line of work, it made sure she knew how to remain unseen, even when someone was staring straight at her. Sometimes her contracts required a little… more, which translated to her often incorporating poisons, usually airborne, sometimes in syringes or darts if she plans on being in the same room as her targets.

In short, they were all terrifyingly efficient killers, all trained from a young age to be masters in their respective fields. This was the Caulfield way. Almost all of their family before them were master assassins, their techniques and experiences passed down for generations. The three siblings were the culmination of those teachings, adding their own twist to things. They were in high demand, always busy, rarely ever having time to sit down and talk to each other. Even if they were all at home, it usually meant they were all preparing for another mission and didn’t have time to just stop and chat for a few hours.

It was rare the three siblings were assigned to the same contract. Practically unheard of, actually. But this one was important, so they had been told. The Chases were extremely clear that this contract would have the highest body count to date, and that they all needed to be there. No survivors. It wasn’t their job to ask why everyone who showed up to the warehouse in five minutes needed to die, so they didn’t. The only protest any of the siblings heard was Maximus, stating simply that she could take out all the targets by herself. The calm, confident way she said it made it a fact, and the other two siblings agreed, but they had their contract. They knew what they had to do, and they didn’t want to complain about it when this was the only ‘bonding time’ they were likely to have for awhile.

Instead they’d split up. Max was outside in front of the looming warehouse. She’d let the others know when their targets showed up, and stay outside to deal with anyone who didn’t go in. Maxine was on the inside, hiding somewhere in the warehouse to take care of everyone who went inside. Maximus was in a sniper’s perch somewhere to assist the both of them and make sure no stragglers got away once the killing started. Max wondered idly what was inside the warehouse, but if Maxine had found anything interesting, she hadn’t said. Once they’d taken their positions they’d lapsed into a comfortable silence.

Their targets weren’t there yet, which meant the quiet time devolved into giving each other shit, because of course it did. They were professional assassins, terrifyingly efficient in their craft, but they were still sisters too.

“Okay so, real talk for a minute.” There was a decent pause as Max tried, and failed, to stifle her chuckling. “Why did you bring a katana to an assassination mission?” She asked as sweetly as possible, lips twisted in a cheshire grin that would put the old cat to shame. She was currently crouched down behind large industrial grade crates. Her back pressed up against the cement wall surrounding the warehouse. On their way to the warehouse she had vaguely registered Maxine carrying a katana on her back, but it had just now hit her how ridiculous the whole concept was. It was a custom built katana, she could tell, since it was accented with purple and had a little star charm dangling off the handle. It was all very Maxine. She had always been way more over the top and dramatic than her sisters.

There was an indignant huff on the other end of the comm line. _“I have a better question for you, Maxxie.”_ Came the smooth purr of her older sister. _“Why_ didn’t _you bring a katana? We could’ve been sword sisters! You ruined it!”_ A bright giggle accented the words, showing that Maxine’s words were way more of a joke than an actual condemnation. Max could practically imagine her grinning too, eyes shining slyly. _“If you must know, I’m experimenting. I’m sure you’re both well aware of how that goes, except I don’t have a hot Chase to do it with, so I have to make my own fun~”_

Max nearly choked, cheeks growing hot against the cold night air. Just thinking about her ‘hot Chase’ got her more flustered than she’d like to admit. Victoria often chided her playfully on how embarrassed Max got, and so easily too. Luckily for her, she didn’t need to respond, since Maximus scoffed once and spoke in her usual dry tone. **“You didn’t seem all that interested in the Chases. Should I tell them that they should find another sister so we can hook you two up?”** Her tone shifted into a more smug one at the last part, and Max facepalmed to try and fight off the redness in her face, slowly rubbing her forehead with her index finger. Something told her this would be a long night. Whenever Maximus and Maxine were even remotely within hearing distance, they enjoyed bantering with each other. Max was more than content to watch most days, this being one of those days.

It hadn’t been too long since they had all been brought in to work with the Chase family, either working as bodyguards during formal events, or as vengeful shadows in the night, killing off the seemingly endless enemies the Chases has racked up over the years. The youngest Chase sister, Victoria, had been Max’s charge whenever she was out and about. Max had been thrown off at first by her sharp words and haughty attitude, but she was more observant than other people, and could see through the facade fairly easily. One day they’d found themselves alone after an attempted hit, things were said, and now they were dating, quietly. If Mr. and Mrs. Chase found out the youngest of the Caulfield assassins were dating their daughter, they’d probably explode or something. Max wasn’t too keen to find out what would happen, but she assumed they would just, explode, full stop. 

Maximus had been assigned primarily to Maribeth, the eldest daughter. It seemed like an odd couple at first, with Maximus’ passive, bored demeanor and Mary’s more cheerful, sincere nature. But Max could see it. They enjoyed each other’s company. Mary made Maximus smile more than she’d ever seen and Maribeth seemed endlessly entertained by Maximus’ sarcastic one liners, muttered under her breath. She wasn’t quite sure what had prompted them to start dating, or if anything had prompted them at all. They just fell into it one day and didn’t show any signs of stopping. The way they looked at each other with such unbridled affection, Max knew they would last. Maribeth had outright told her parents about it, and after mulling it over, they had given their tentative blessing. Having the most accomplished Caulfield dating their eldest daughter made them a little wary, but Maximus was a professional. She could keep her emotions separate from her missions. And, in short, if Maribeth was ever in danger, now she had more than just a paycheck motivating her.

Max wasn’t like that. Max was the inexperienced one, the youngest, the pup. If the Chases found out about her interest in Victoria they’d probably laugh in her face and tell her to go home. Victoria had her own reasons for wanting to keep it a secret, and Max hadn’t pressed her to go public. It was kind of a mess, honestly.

She was broken out of that train of thought by the sound of tires squealing, and she narrowed her eyes, muscles tensing. Such a simple sound announced the approach of their targets. Her sisters were still bickering playfully, until Maximus suddenly stopped, tone dropping to the tense, professional one she used on contracts. **“Targets in sight. I count five cars. ETA two minutes. Position check.”**

Max took a moment to breathe, and let the breath out slowly. She’d done this numerous times, it was easy to fall into her role now. She adjusted her gloves as the sound of the cars drew closer, and she crept to the end of the crates to peek out towards the gate. “Tertius in place. Eyes on the gate.” She replied cooly, as a hand snaked down to the holster on her hip. Today would be a poison day. There were far too many targets to take them out with her bare hands without alerting literally everyone. The dart gun that Chloe had worked so hard on custom building slit out of the holster and into her hand.

Maxine’s comm had a sort of shuffling sound, then she spoke in her usual sing song voice. _“Secondus ready, in position by the door. Katrina's with me too!”_ She said sweetly. Katrina, Max assumed, was what Maxine had named her katana. Maxine then seemed to remember something. _“OH. The person with the lowest count gets to buy breakfast for us!”_ She added quickly. Max blinked and checked her wrist with a brow perk. It was 2:46 AM, what breakfast place was open at such an ungodly hour? Also, when had this bet been agreed upon? She had been spacing out on their way up to the warehouse, so maybe then. As she tried to formulate a response, the warehouse gate made a strange clunking, whirling noise, and slid open. 

The trucks pulled one by one into the makeshift parking lot and men in body armor hopped out, slamming their doors. Max’s eyes flitted over their forms, lips moving silently as she counted. The trucks held more people than she thought they would just from glancing at them. In the end there were around 45 men and women there, clad in body armor with assault rifles strapped to their chest. They’d seen these types of uniforms before on their missions for the Chases, so they all knew their own methods for getting around the bulletproof vests and jackets.

 **“‘Kay. On my mark.”** Maximus spoke, little more than a murmur in her ear.

A man that hopped out of the first truck started barking orders at the rest of the armored people, who snapped to attention. Most of them went into the warehouse, but a good number of them also stayed outside to start unloading crates from the trucks. One of them, a man with a slight limp, moved dangerously close to Max’s hiding place. She decided he’d have to die first. Her fingers twitched and curled in on themselves. Her blood pumped with adrenaline, and her mind emptied of stray thoughts, focusing on the way the man was standing, running through the scenarios on how best to overpower him.

It only took one word for the otherwise quiet night to erupt with noise and activity.

**“Go.”**

And then they were off. Inside the warehouse a man’s guts spilled out onto the drab floor, his dying sob muffled by a hand with purple fingernails. Outside, the leader’s head popped like an overpressured fruit, blood and gore splattering the windshield he’d been standing in front of. The one closest to Max’s crates felt a smaller form on him, and suddenly his world turned black with a sickening crunch of bones in his neck.

Some hours later, when the sun was just rising over the horizon, Max would grumble as they slunk into a diner, mumbling something about how it wasn’t fair how she got roped into these bets when the others used weapons. Maximus smirked faintly and ruffled her hair, wandering to a booth to sit and occupy one whole side for herself. Maxine apparently recognized someone and ran over to another occupied booth with a squeal of delight. Max smiled slowly and shrugged, deciding that this was fine, as she wandered shyly to Maximus’ booth to take a seat across from her older sister. She’d be paying for their breakfast, but she didn’t mind. It meant they could spend more time together, maybe catch up properly.

They may have a strange occupation, but that was alright if other people didn’t get it. It was a family thing.


End file.
